Pride and Joy
by TwinklingCupcake
Summary: The Pride Festival comes to Mineral Town. [Written in honor of Pride Month.]


Mary hummed quietly as she set about making coffee. Morning sun filtered through the curtains of their bedroom, bathing everything in a peaceful gold. On the kitchen counter sat a small battery-powered radio, the chords of 'Whiskey Girl' softly playing from it.

Mary never told Karen, but the song always made her smile.

Not that she wanted to keep it a secret or anything, but she just knew Karen would just find it confusing. "I drink _wine_ , Mary," she would say, nose crinkling and brows furrowing. "Not whiskey."

Mary held back a bubble of laughter as the coffee maker sputtered out the last drops. Hastily she turned off the machine and poured the coffee into two mugs. One pink with a lace pattern, one a sunny yellow with a rainbow. Black coffee for the yellow-rainbow cup, two sugars and sweet cream for the pink one. After a moment of thought, Mary added a pinch of cocoa powder to the pink cup before she brought them over to the bed. With a smile, she set down her own cup before rousing the sleeping lump under the covers.

"Karen..." she called softly. "Rise and shine..."

"Mmf." Karen grumbled and rolled over, wiggling deeper into the comforter so only her hair could be seen. "Sleep forever..."

" _Kar_ -en, remember what day it is," Mary prodded her, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You got your new button for it?"

There was a few seconds' pause before the words registered in Karen's sleep-fogged brain. Suddenly she sat up, eyes wide and long hair tangled and frizzy around her shoulders. "What time is it?" she groaned, palming at her eyes.

"A quarter after nine. We have enough time for coffee and to get dressed." Mary passed Karen her sugar-and-cream coffee before taking a long sip of her own black coffee. "I thought we could eat a power bar on the way to the square so we have something in our stomachs. There's sure to be plenty of food at the party, I want us to eat as much as we can."

"I'm fine with that," Karen said with a nod. "I love party food!"

"It's not _technically_ a party."

"Well, it's not a carnival or a fair," Karen pointed out. "And it _is_ a celebration."

"I suppose that's true," Mary said as Karen took another long drink. And then they were both silent, simply drinking in their coffee and surroundings and each other's company.

It took roughly a half hour for them both to get ready. Mary washed her face and braided her hair with her new ribbons as Karen took a quick shower. Karen applied her facial mask and strawberry-scented moisturizer while Mary brushed her teeth and changed her clothes. Mary grabbed both of their purses while Karen slipped into her shoes and pinned her button onto her shirt. "How's it look?" she asked, turning to face her girlfriend.

Mary smiled at the button over Karen's heart. It'd been ordered from a magazine just a week ago, and Karen had been so excited when she'd opened the box and saw it nestled among the crumpled newspaper pieces. The button had a rainbow-hued infinity symbol on it, and that symbol sat over a large heart with three stripes: dark pink, purple, and dark blue. A simple design, but Karen had been beside herself with joy.

And it made Mary happy to see her so happy.

"Beautiful," she said. She smiled and held up her braid. "How about this?"

Karen beamed at the two ribbons holding the end of her braid. One was striped with various shades of pink, and the other with black, gray, white and purple. "Gorgeous," she said as she leaned over to kiss Mary on the nose. "Alright, you ready to go?"

"Ready."

* * *

The walk to the village square was quiet, but they could still hear the commotion up ahead. Loud shouting, laughter... It made their hearts flutter in excitement. "I hope we can keep doing this," Mary said, squeezing Karen's hand. "It sounded so fun when Claire described it!"

"Big cities get all the nice things," Karen sighed, but still with a smile. "But this was already going to go over so well, I bet the Mayor will have another Pride Festival next year. Look how excited everyone was when Claire just mentioned it - it'll be perfect."

"Yeah...Yeah it will," Mary said as they finally approached the entrance to the square. They could see balloons strung up on either side of the entrance, in every color of the rainbow plus black and brown ones. Mary felt her heart skip a beat in her excitement, and Karen squeezed her hand again. "Let's go," they whispered, stepping over the metaphorical threshold.

The noise and joy hit them like a wave. Everyone in town had gathered here, and was milling around wildly like ants at a candy picnic. Overnight, numerous booths and stalls had been set up, Mineral Town's vendors manning them with excitement. Karen could see her father, his cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling, kiss her mother on the cheek as they traded places - Sasha would man the stall for an hour while Jeff enjoyed himself, and they would trade off periodically. Jeff called out a 'good morning' to Karen as he vanished into the crowd, likely heading over to find Barley's candy stall.

"Well," Karen laughed, already breathless. "Where do we even start?"

"Let's just walk and see what there is," Mary laughed in return, taking Karen deeper into the crowd. "Gosh, I didn't think Mineral Town had so many people... It's never this crowded at our other festivals."

"You know, I heard Kai talking to Zack earlier this month. Something about calling some of his buddies to help out? Oh, yup, there they are." Karen pointed out a glitter face-paint booth a few feet away. A strange man with a mop of messy black hair was cheerfully painting a jellyfish onto Stu's cheek as Elli watched with a smile. Even from this distance they could see a tri-colored rainbow on her face, the pink, white, and blue sparkling under the glitter dust. "See, they can earn some extra money and support the community."

"That would explain the unfamiliar faces." A couple Mary had never seen before walked past, hand in hand. She took a moment to wave at them before they moved on. "Are you alright with this? I know crowds can be-"

"Nah, it's fine. This still isn't as bad as a bar can get," Karen snorted. "Hey, look, it's Carter!" she suddenly cried, pointing.

Carter stood atop a bench in the corner of the square, small speakers set up on the ground so people could hear him easier, but not to the point that his voice carried over the entire square. He was smiling serenely as he read from his book, the sun glinting off his thick black ring. "And Naomi and Ruth stood hand-in-hand in the Goddess's clearing. And the Harvest Goddess blessed them, and they were happy for the rest of their days." His smile widened ever so slightly as the small crowd gathered around him applauded. "Now let's see... There is also the story of Nami and Jill, who-"

"Carter!" Karen shouted, waving over the crowd. "Get off the bench and join the party!"

Carter chuckled as the crowd laughed uproariously, shaking his head slightly as he closed his book. "Later, Karen. It's Sunday; I have to conduct service. I'll get down from here in an hour, I promise."

"At least get some water!" Mary shouted as well. "You'll get hot!"

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry, everyone, could somebody - ah, thank you, Kai."

"Don't mention it," Kai said, adjusting his pan-themed bandanna. "Stop by the snack shack later, I'll be making pizza for lunch hour. _Free_ pizza," he added, winking at the gathered crowd.

"Ohhhh, I see." Carter laughed. "Your good deed was just an attempt to get more customers! Away with you, scoundrel!" He waved his hand at Kai, shooing him away in mock-outrage, much to everyone's amusement.

Karen elbowed Mary gently in the ribs, leaning close to whisper. "Come on, let's see what else is here. I heard Doctor Trent and one of Claire's city friends pitched in for shoulder-massages."

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Mary gushed as Karen led her away.

* * *

The shoulder-massages _were_ fun. And very relaxing. Mary rubbed the back of her neck, sighing in contentment as she felt herself moving easier now. She could still smell the lavender hand lotion the masseuse had used, and she suspected she'd smell it for the entire rest of the day. Not that she was complaining, it would be a nice counteract to the excited air around her.

"Hey." Karen squeezed her hand to get her attention. "There's a wine-making exhibit over by one of the gates. I'm gonna head over and watch for a bit."

"Okay. I'll be down at the beach." The Pride Festival wasn't restricted to just the square. Down the steps leading to the beach, Mary could see colorful tents and balloons, and people splashing in the surf. Several people were drifting over to Kai's Snack Shack for the promised free pizza. She tore her gaze away from the beach and leaned over to peck Karen on the lips. "I'll see you in a little while."

"I'll head down to join you," Karen promised before heading off. Mary smiled wryly as she watched her go. Oh, she didn't doubt that Karen would come and find her... But it would be after she watched the wine-making demonstration several times over. And asked any and all questions she had. And probably purchased a bottle herself.

She knew how deeply-fascinating Karen found wine.

Mary walked slowly towards the steps, so as to better admire the tents and booths. There was a lot of foodstuffs, as she'd anticipated. Rainbow-shaped cookies dusted with colored sugar, cupcakes arranged by color into various pride flags, sizzling kabobs that vendors decorated with a ribbon before handing them off to a customer. Pink lemonade that made her mouth water to look at it, and double-sized hot dogs. She and Karen were right to save their appetites, she couldn't help but think. They'd have to walk around and eat more later.

There were games, a cake walk, and the mayor had sprang for a handful of miniature carnival rides. Mary could see Popuri riding the carousel and squealing with delight as the wind caught her pink, blue and white hair bows. As she drew closer, she could see Harris, his bi-ace wristband catching the sunlight as he lifted May onto one of the horses. May was wearing a special t-shirt just for the festival, "Proud of My Grandpa."

Nearly everyone in Mineral Town was wearing special colors and symbols today. She even saw Manna wearing the same button that Karen was wearing. The rare person who wasn't wearing colors were wearing t-shirts that boasted their pride in their relatives and lovers, broad smiles on their faces as they held hands or watched their loved ones gush excitedly over this or that.

She almost hated to step onto the quieter-by-comparison beach, but it was fine. This would all still be there in an hour or so; the festival wasn't going to be dismantled until midnight.

And besides, she reasoned, she could still see and hear the festivities from the beach.

Even with the speaker system set up, the music playing loud and clear (Mary found herself bobbing her head along as the singer declared _"Girls like girls..."_ ), she could hear the excited chatter. It wrapped around her like a blanket, strangely warm and comforting despite the abundance of noise. She figured it must be because of how purely safe it was, how warm her heart was seeing such solidarity.

"Ma-ryyyy!" Kai cheered as she approached. He waved at her, one hand balancing a plate of pizza. "Did you bring Karen with you?"

"No, she's watching the wine-making exhibit," Mary said, pointing up at the square. "I'll probably be finished with my pizza by the time she's finished."

"Aw, okay. Well that's fine. Pizza's not going anywhere." Kai handed Mary the plate, a broad grin on his face. "You still like cheese the best, right?"

"Yup!" Mary laughed as she took her treat. A jingling sound caught her ears and she turned to see another man walking up with a push-cart of shaved ice.

"My friend, Denny," Kai explained, answering Mary's unasked question. "He came over from one of the islands to help out. I said there'd be no way I could feel all of these people - and I wanted to enjoy the day too - so. Yeah." He shrugged, not sure how else to end the story. Denny's presence basically said it all.

"Do they have a Pride Festival where he's from, too?"

"Yeah, but it's way bigger than this. He says it's cool though, any festival celebrating us is great, no matter the size." His smile turned affectionate. "Claire said the same thing earlier. She came by with Won and their daughter."

Mary could see them playing in the waves, Claire and Won wearing matching bi-pride swimsuits as they tossed a beachball around with Mei. "It looks like she's having fun, too," Mary said quietly, a smile on her face.

Kai nodded. "Everyone is," he said, and Mary felt a huge weight of truth to his words.

* * *

Mary had had two slices of pizza, napped in a beach chair for twenty minutes, and had collected five perfect seashells by the time Karen ran back to her. "Mary! Mary, look!" she called out. She held up a delicate pink bottle as she drew closer, the light making the glass gleam ethereally. "I got us a new wine to try!"

Mary squinted, wrinkling her nose at the flavor name. "Bubble-gum? In _wine_?"

"You know, I said the same thing, but they were giving out taste samples and it's _reeaaaally_ good," Karen assured her. "We'll have it with strawberry shortcakes next weekend!"

"You mean, you'll have it." Mary put her hands on her hips, a wry smile on her mouth. "I'll probably only have a few sips."

Karen had the decency to blush. "I won't drink all of it..." Suddenly she blinked and turned around, hearing the jingle of Denny's bell. "Is that shaved ice?"

Mary laughed and started walking, taking Karen's elbow as she passed. "Come on," she said. "I'll get you a rainbow sherbet."

* * *

Come nightfall, the beach was full of people. They all sat on over-sized towels and blankets, faces tilted towards the sky. Mary and Karen sat together, sharing a blanket with Trent, Elli and Stu. Stu had fallen asleep a scant two minutes ago, his face-paint finally smearing from where he pressed his cheek to his sister's knee. Mary and Karen cuddled together for warmth, their faces flushed from the cool air and happiness. Beside them was a plastic bag with two bottles of that bubble-gum wine, various T-shirts, and a multitude of hair decorations. Mary had even found a piece of art to go on their end table, of two farm girls clasping hands and smiling at one another. But most of their money had gone to food and tickets for rides and games.

She doubted this was quite the way this was celebrated in Claire's hometown, but everyone was happy enough. And that was the important part.

They'd do this again next year. She knew it.

As a high-pitched whistling pierced the air, and the first firework launched into the sky, Karen nuzzled into her girlfriend's neck. "Hmmmm...I love you," she sighed, pressing her lips into Mary's hair.

"I love you, too," Mary whispered with a smile, and the two kissed as colorful flowers exploded in the night sky.

* * *

 **Notes:**

Happy Pride Month, y'all.

For the curious, Karen (and Manna's) button has a symbol for the Autistic Bi community.

Anyone who thinks this is unrealistic is cordially invited to pound rainbows up their nose with a hammer.


End file.
